HDFC Life Insurance Co. outpaced its private peers' growth in the quarter ended December, but the insurer cautions that, growth won't come at the cost of unnecessary risks in the underwriting segment.
That's according to its Chief Executive Officer Vibha Padalkar, who said in an interview with BloombergQuint's Niraj Shah that insurance pricing in India isn't as disciplined as she would like it to be. “When any one feature is tracked very very closely by the market, currently its protection, there's an urge to show that number favourably,” she said. Moreover the lack of data in the young and nascent economy often leads to insurers pricing and underwriting in the dark, she said.
The company's market share rose by 200 basis points in the three months through December when it grew by more than the private industry's 3% growth. It's also reporting sequential growth and aims to grow at 2.5 times India's gross domestic product. “But we will do this only within our risk framework.”
Earnings Highlights (YoY)
- Gross premium up 20% to Rs 9,628 crore.
- Net profit up 6% to Rs 265 crore.
- Value of new business margins for first nine months of FY21 at 25.6% vs 26.6%.
- 13th month persistency during first nine months of FY21 at 89% vs 87%.
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